Rishabh Pant's captaincy debut ends in heartbreak as LSG fall short in IPL thriller

After a six-ball duck with the bat, he watched his former team, Delhi Capitals, chase down 210 with Ashutosh Sharma's unbeaten 66 off 31 balls.

When asked if LSG could have scored more, especially after being 133/1 in the 12th over with Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran firing, Pant didn't think so. He told JioHotstar after the one-wicket loss in Vizag, "We had enough runs on the board. Our batters did well. We might have lost momentum between overs 13-17, but it was still a good score on this pitch."

However, LSG's assistant coach, Lance Klusener, felt otherwise. He believed they had left 20-30 runs on the table, which led to pressure during their bowling.

"When the bowlers got it right, there was some spin on offer. The wicket was good for everyone, but we didn't score enough runs, which put us in a tough spot," said Klusener. He also acknowledged that the team's bowlers were short-handed due to injuries to key fast bowlers like Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, Mayank Yadav, and Akash Deep.

With just two frontline pacers in Shardul Thakur and rookie Prince Yadav, and Marsh playing solely as a batter, LSG had to rely heavily on spinners. Klusener noted the team's lack of depth in the bowling department and said they would have to "mix and match" until their key players returned.

Pant, however, was keen to move on from the loss and didn't dwell on missed chances. Referring to a stumping opportunity he missed in the final over, Pant said, "Luck plays a part, but these things happen in cricket. We need to focus on playing good cricket, not the luck factor."

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